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The Blackstrider Documents
Shortly after Lor'themar Theron became regent lord of the Sin'dorei, an author by the name of Marianne Blackstrider began to show up in dozens of local newspapers across Silvermoon City. Widely considered inflammatory and scandalous, the Blackstrider Documents are a collection of hundreds of news articles, journals, and falsified records. Inflammatory Remarks At first the articles were simply attempts to spark unrest within the local population, typically emphasizing nationalist values and praising the Sunstrider monarchy before its downfall during the Burning Crusade. They would preach about the merits of tradition and how their nation had thrived because of it, then would actively jab at the regency itself, particularly on the topic of their new allegiance with the Horde. They described in great detail how joining them was an act of great cowardice and would eventually cripple their people to the point of no return. Excerpt taken from a later article titled "War Wounds": "Think about what our new allies have done to us in the past. Orcs and trolls alike have actively attempted to wipe us out and destroy our beloved nation, over what, I wonder? The immense power we hold? Our resources? They wanted what we had and would stop at nothing to claim it for themselves, and now we're happily giving them everything they want. The fact that we're sharing our deepest secrets with our former enemies is sickening - like a terminal illness, the symptoms can be treated, but not cured. This new allegiance is just alleviating a symptom - when they believe we are no further use to them, what would stop them from trying to slaughter us all?" Information Leak As time went on, dissenting citizens and politicians began to periodically disappear and return with near-rabid support for the regency and their Horde brethren. As this occurred, Blackstrider's articles changed from slander to documentation. They went into great detail about the fates of her fellow dissenters. Blackstrider described the location they would be taken to, the processes of personality distortion and memory-wiping, and remote thought control. These new publications received numerous complaints to the newspaper companies that published her articles, claiming this "Blackstrider" woman was nothing but a deranged conspiracy theorist. Despite the complaints, the publishers had no knowledge of anyone of that name ever writing for them. Soon the articles began to come with picture-perfect sketches of what was originally described, though those too were written off just like before. Then, almost out of nowhere, the articles sent a small ripple through readers near and far. Disappearances Blackstrider's articles stopped appearing for roughly a month, then returned en masse with information that proved her articles weren't simply the ravings of a madwoman. Each week a list of names was tagged onto the end of each publication, titled "Vanishing Neighbors". The lists would rattle off twelve individuals known to harbor ill will towards the regency. Every person documented vanished within days of being mentioned. The lengths of their disappearances all varied, but when they returned they acted exactly as Blackstrider mentioned - polar opposite views, memory gaps, sudden starts, frequent nightmares, and in rare cases a star-shaped mark on the back of the victim's head. A wave of paranoia swept through a captivated audience as they wondered whether or not their own names would show up on that list. If the information leak didn't attract the attention of the magistrate, then that list certainly did. One day, Marianne Blackstrider's publications ceased to exist. Office Raids On the night of Blackstrider's "disappearance", members of the magistrate accompanied by squads of Blood Knights swarmed into every newspaper company, printing house, and publishing office that was associated with Blackstrider's works. Employees were beaten into submission, businesses were burned, and public records were seized and scoured through. They found no trace of Marianne Blackstrider in any of those locations. Those conscious enough to talk had no memory of publishing anything by her, and official records had nothing tied to her name. Blackstrider never existed. They had, however, one key detail: the descriptions of the practices the magistrate conducted. That was all they needed. Marianne Blackstrider The report available to the public of the incident is heavily censored. It states that one of the raiding parties had identified their culprit as a "regenade magister" and traced this individual's location to a small publishing office situated in a quiet section of the city. That party swiftly moved to silence the individual and seize all physical information they owned. As they entered the office they discovered a doorway behind a bookshelf in the back that led into a hidden chamber. This chamber contained approximately three hundred journals filled with highly classified documentation on numerous internal affairs. The party then headed to the home of the culprit and attempted to arrest them, but claimed the individual actively resisted and killed several of their officials before subduing them. The name of the individual has not been released. Category:Thematics